


Do Holy Knights Dream of Seven Deadly Sins

by SolarQueen



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, 七つの大罪 - 鈴木央 | Nanatsu no Taizai | The Seven Deadly Sins - Suzuki Nakaba (Anime & Manga)
Genre: BB-8 As A Talking Cat, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Holy Knight Rey, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, R2-D2 As A Kid, Sin of Wrath Kylo Ren, Slow Burn, seven deadly sins au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-12 22:35:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20142811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SolarQueen/pseuds/SolarQueen
Summary: The Seven Deadly Sins, a collection of the strongest and  the cruelest Holy Knights in the Kingdom of Liones. Formed by seven brutal criminals, they had carved the symbols of seven beasts onto their bodies.A number of years ago, the group was framed for crimes they did not commit, and the seven were split across the Kingdom, fated to forever run, or risk capture and possible execution.Rose Tico, Princess of the Kingdom, fled from her palace home as the remaining Holy Knights took over, and searched for these Seven Deadly Sins. Now, the help of Kylo Ren, the Kingdom may yet have a chance to be saved, but with some of the strongest remaining Holy Knights after them, including someone Kylo had a past with, they needed to find the remaining Sins, and fast.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Eveningeyes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eveningeyes/gifts).

> First several chapters roughly follow the episodes of the main show until a certain point, so, stick with me until then, at least

A hill of emerald grass, a sapphire sky with pearlescent clouds, and a cobblestone building with a wooden roof. This was the sight before Rose Tico, Princess of the land and travelling in search of the Seven Deadly Sins; she was a tan girl with a round face, her hair was dark and somewhat long, a fringe covering her forehead while the rest of it collected around her shoulder blades.

The sun was in it’s early moments of rising, casting a bright blanket over the village below them but yet to cut above the dense tree line set around where the bar was positioned. The bar was known as The Cat’s Cradle, named after the business’ infamous mascot and run by the man she’d been with the past few weeks. She was working there now, her uniform the one thing she wore anymore, the one thing her new friends(?) could put together at short notice: she was pretty sure it was one of his shirts, at least one of his bigger ones, it was a leather-brown shade, the sleeves were long and loose, and with a rope she was almost certain used to hold one of the curtains back from the windows tied around her waist, the end flared out slightly making it look like she was wearing a short dress of some kind - her shoes (short boots good for all the walking) they had needed to pick up from the first town they visited together since none they had actually fit her and her own were worn down to nothing. It wasn’t the most organised thing, but hey, at least it helped bring in customers.

It had been a while since such peace had been at the forefront of her mind; she’d spent months travelling alone in half broken, rusted armour ready to collapse at any given moment. Walking into The Cat’s Cradle had been the biggest stroke of luck she’d had since the moment she left the castle, left her family, her sister, her whole  _ life  _ because of Holy Knights not being as good or as Holy as their titles would have one believe.

“If you’re just going to stand there we’ll never open and never find any information.” There was a familiar sing-song tease from the man she’d been travelling with: Kylo Ren, Dragon Sin of Wrath himself, and perhaps the most powerful person in the world right now. 

He was much taller than her, but she’d always been rather short so it wasn't much of a surprise, his hair was dark and tickling at his shoulders, and his eyes were only slightly lighter. He wore a basic black jumpsuit, a bulky jacket of the same colour over his torso and and black boots dirtied by mud, food, and alcohol were on his feet; on his back was the only lick of colour on his whole being, a red sheath for a broken, dragon designed, silver hilted blade. On his upper arm, hidden by all the black, one would find a tattoo, a red dragon ring holding more confirmation of his identity than his name may to those thinking it was even remotely common. 

“Unless, you know,” he smirked, “you  _ don’t  _ want to find the rest of my team?”

When she’d met him, she’d been afraid, his dark appearance was something she’d always been warned to stray away from - he looked like a thug, or a thief, or whatever other bad thing she could have come up with in her half-asleep state - but he was much friendlier than he appeared. He was serious, she couldn’t argue with that, but he managed to find it in him to tease her or others, he was good with drunk people (though he did haggle them for all they were worth) and he had some pretty good jokes - she’d only tried it once, but he made incredible tasting alcohol… but his food? Not so great.

She turned, rolling her eyes and punching him in the arm, “you want to find them as much as I do.”

He chuckled then, feigning hurt at the arm she hit but holding the door to the bar open for her anyway. Upon entering she was met with the smell of the fool’s food that was Kylo’s cooking happening in the kitchen, she always felt bad for the poor souls who were tricked by their delectable appearances and mouth-watering smells. 

“Ready for duty, boss,” called a voice from the back, high pitched like a boiling kettle’s whistle but familiar and welcoming all the same.

Bee leapt over the main counter and came to stand in front of the two of them in the doorway. Bee was a curious creature, a large white and orange spotted cat with large black eyes that could talk, he had the features of a domestic kitten but the general size of a small tiger, she’d honestly never seen anything like him when she met him. According to Kylo, Bee technically belonged to one of the other Sins but had been with Kylo since the group broke apart all those years ago due to losing his original partner in whatever the chaos was that split them up in the first place; he seemed pretty happy though, and the prospect of going looking for the Sins had been very appealing to him, practically agreeing for him and Kylo both, which was lucky since the bar they were in  _ was  _ set up atop his mother.

“Quit calling me that,” Kylo huffed, almost comically knocking Bee over the head with his fist and hopping back over the counter, “just get ready to open up for business.” Without another word he disappeared into the kitchen.

Rose worked like she’d practiced then, helping Bee into his apron (they’d have to give him baths everyday if he didn’t have one) and jumped onto the main counter to grab a bell from one of the top shelves - which Kylo said he never put there on purpose but she always (mentally) called bullshit considering how much he liked to mess with her given her sheltered lifestyle growing up.

“Shoes off my tables!”

“I was on it for  _ three seconds _ !”

**xoxoxo**

Despite it being just past sunrise when the bar was opened and she and Bee were outside yelling and ringing a bell (now back on that damn high shelf,  _ thanks Kylo _ ), the building filled surprisingly quickly, not that anybody was complaining. The village they were near seemed small at first glance, only a few big houses, a main square, and a large tower was noticeable from where they were, but if the amount of people crammed inside was any indication, there were probably more houses around what was easily seen, if not just simply in the local area.

A lot of the men appeared far more tired than they should be at the day’s beginning, their eyes had dark circles and and the muscles she could see from their sleeveless shirts seemed tense or worn out. The women didn’t appear that much different, they looked just as, if not more weary, clad in dirty dresses and looking like they hadn’t slept a wink in days. 

Rose had been walking between tables all morning, taking orders as fast (and as clumsily) as she could with Bee plodding his way around her to catch the food scraps and take some orders like her - honestly, the fact that nobody was freaking out at a walking, talking, big domestic cat was something she still didn’t think was normal. Luckily, today, she hadn’t yet dropped anything expensive or breakable, which meant Kylo wasn’t staring at her for once and instead stayed behind the counter watching the kitchen and questioning a few of the people sat near him.

The table she was at was occupied by solely men, most of them had actually eaten Kylo’s food, which, well, she prays for their stomachs in a few hours, and a few of them had gone through more than two mugs of ale in the last couple of hours. She wanted to ask what exactly led, what she assumed was, the entire village (minus the children) up to the bar, but worried she may be overstepping some kind of boundaries,  _ especially  _ with some of them already a little tipsy and more likely to get emotional. She hazarded a glance at Kylo, who paused his conversation with an elderly woman to give her a ‘go ahead’ nod.

“What’s got you all drinking up here so early?” She asked hesitantly, passing her trey of dirty dishes to Bee who expertly balanced them on his head. “I mean, don’t you all have work?”

One of the more drunk men, cheeks red and words somewhat slurred, answered her, looking so disdainfully at his mug of ale that she worried it had offended him somehow. “Some- some bitch of a Holy Knight came and shoved her damn sword through the main square- shit won’t grow, kids are gettin’ fussy, and this ale is the freshest liquid we’ve had in days. Said we disrespected her or some other bullcrap.”

“Was it clear what set her off?”

“Clear?” One of the other men, wholly more sober than the other, guffawed in her direction, he was so loud even the other patrons of the bar looked over, either glaring at the man, her, or whatever it was this man was angry about - she’d hide behind her trey if she were still holding it. “It was obvious, sweetheart, the little brat, Rede, went and ran his mouth,  _ as usual,  _ and got us all into trouble.”

She tilted her head, looking around at the others in the room who seemed to slowly grow a little rowdier at the mention of this Rede kid, a few angry exclamations and frustrated sighs sweeping through the small crowd. Kylo looked over again and she could only offer a helpless shrug in response, she had no idea who this Rede was, nor what he had done to apparently insight the wrath of a Holy Knight clearly powerful enough to mess with the natural workings of this village. 

She’s pretty sure he rolled his eyes as he left from behind the counter to come over, but whatever it was he expected her to do he didn’t bother voicing, instead he asked the men a question himself, “could you show us to this sword?”

The sober man scoffed but nodded nonetheless, ditching his ale on the table as he got up and stretched out, his movement quieted the rest of the room and the other patrons went back to their meals with only mumbles between the others around their tables. Kylo nodded at Bee, who nodded back, and then he followed after the man as he left the building, Rose dashing after them when she realised he probably wanted her to follow too.

The sun was high in the sky now, heat beating down on their backs as they trekked down the hill to the town. Rose could spot children running around the closer they got, probably expelling their pent up, stressed energy in the only way they could like the adults and their parents drinking themselves stupid in The Cat’s Cradle. She could see the variety in the population just from the crowds of young people, some were like her, some were like Kylo, some had dark skin and light eyes while others had light skin and dark eyes, the diversity was something she always enjoyed seeing, given a lot of the people she was allowed to interact with back home always looked similar. The children had the energy the adults didn’t, they were as bright as the sun despite how much they were suffering at that moment; they brought a small smile to her face, and she could see a few teenagers indulging their more childish impulses to play with those younger, some were hiding their smiles and laughs behind books (and two, she noticed, behind cards).

“Children getting fussy?” She asked, looking at the man leading them.

“Babies, sweetheart, these squirts are tryin’ their best.”

She frowned a little at the nickname, biting the inside of her cheek to stop herself from saying anything, they were stressed already and she didn’t want to get herself and/or Kylo on this town’s bad side when she was pretty sure they only wanted to help (at least she did, Kylo was always a bit... slow on his decisions). 

The children paused in their playing as they entered town, all young eyes turning to them as their giggles stopped and they cleared a path - some stood behind who she assumed was their older siblings, others ran over to those reading or playing cards to quietly bug them. The second they entered town the energy dropped, it was sad, and what was worse was that she could feel the glares of the older ones. There was no for them.

Rose could see the cracks in the stone before the sword, the lines in the pathways were se deep she could see ores hidden beneath the buildings. The sword in the centre was set deeply into the ground, she could barely see the blade but knew it was a metal tinted blue from what she could see; the hilt was ornate and silver, simpler in shape than Kylo’s sword, but more detailed in it’s decorative additions like the lapis gems around the cross guard and the imprinted vines around the main handle - if she looked closely she could see faint sparks of electricity bouncing around it.

“Of course.” She looked up to Kylo to see him roll his eyes, he looked… exasperated to say the least.

“You know who did this?” She asked.

He shrugged one shoulder in response, hiding his hands away in his jacket pockets and glaring at the sword, “I might. If it’s who I’m assuming, we probably want to avoid her while we’re by ourselves…  _ but  _ she is pretty fun to wind up.”

Rose found herself chewing on her thumb, “is she stronger than you?”

He snorted, “eh, I’m definitely stronger, but she’s probably likely to go after you as a way to throw me off, so I need someone else to watch you if she does show up.”

“I don’t need a babysitter,” she retorted, folding her arms and huffing indignantly.

He chuckled, freeing one of his hands to ruffle her hair (even after the many times she had asked him not to do that - asshole) before planting his elbow there instead to lean on her - which,  _ rude _ \- and talk to the man glaring at the sword in the ground, “so who’s this Rede kid anyway?”

“Who’s asking?” 

She managed to shove his arm off of her (not that it knocked him off balance) to turn around and face the clearly-not-gone-through-puberty voice; she guessed this was Rede, given the man’s barely withheld growl. He looked, at most, thirteen, but was small, probably only up to her chest if he stood right next to her, and his blue hair was in a messy sort of bowl cut, ends jagged and uneven so probably cut by himself or another kid; he had dark brown, almost black eyes, and he wore a white t-shirt with blue shorts and a blue bandana around his neck, his shoes were brown and covered in dirt from running around all day most likely.

“You Rede?” Kylo asked, hands returning to his pockets and expression remaining relatively neutral.

The boy planted his hands on his hips and he puffed his chest out in, well, Rose wasn’t quite sure, was he sizing the two of them up?

“My friends call me R2, what’s it to ya?” Well that was an odd nickname.

“Kylo, this is Rose. Folks are saying you pissed off a Holy Knight, that true?”

Rede - or, _R2_, apparently - stiffened, his hands gripping the hem of his t-shirt as he fixed Kylo with a glare, “she was disrespecting the village, what was I supposed to do?!” 

She felt herself get moved, and she folded her arms as the man shoved her aside to get in front of Rede, “you were supposed to keep your trap shut! We could handle it, it wasn’t somethin’ for a kid to shove their nose into!”

She reached out, placing a hand on the man’s shoulder only to be shrugged off. “That’s a little harsh, he had good intentions.”

“Nobody gives a shit how good his intentions were, now we’re all goin’ to starve and it’ll be his fault.”

“It’s not my fault she flipped!”

“You told her you _know _the Seven Deadly Sins, Rede!”

Oh.  _ Oh dear _ .

It wasn’t much of an answer, but Rede simply let out a strange, frustrated, scream mixed with a whine; it wasn’t a long nor a loud noise, but it made her want to hug him all the same, even as he violently rubbed at his face and disappeared into the alleyways between the village houses.

“Go,” Kylo nodded at her, “I’ll talk to the rest of them.”

She stared between him and the still fuming man in front of them before nodding and taking off in the direction Rede ran. He was much faster than her it seemed, he’d disappeared into the backstreets quicker than she could keep up; the backstreets were almost like a small maze, alleyways opening out into wider paths then moving into alleyways again, and before she knew it, she was a little awkwardly lost in the more farmland part of the village. 

She could see the fields where all the crops were growing better from what she could at both the main square and the hill the bar was on. Plants had grown, at least it looked like they had, the village must have had a full harvest before the Holy Knight came; the plants that had grown were wilted now, brown and dying with dry leaves hanging on by barely a hair, and trees from a small orchard in a similar sad state. The contained streams of water between the lines of crops was as dry as they were, nothing but worms and bugs crawling between the cracks in the soil.

She spotted a much larger river, one the villagers must have collected water from normally, at the very back of the farmland, stretching out at the back of the village and then off into the distance away from it - she wondered if the water across the whole thing was dried up, or if the magic was just stopping it from being reachable by the villagers, though, knowing the track record of Holy Knights, she was more inclined to believe the one who attacked this place didn’t care about the others caught in the crossfire of her anger. There was a bridge stretching over the trench that was left, and she heard sniffling when she got closer; she slid down into the ditch, and spotted him there, curled up under the shade of the cobblestone with his knees pulled to his chest and his face hidden behind his arms. He looked small.

She was quiet as she walked over, standing just beside the bridge and him. “Why’d you say it?” She probed gently after a moment, folding her skirt underneath her to sit beside him in the shade. She half expected the ground to be at least a little damp, but nothing except bone-dry soil crumbled under her fingers as if water hadn’t flown between it for years.

The young boy shrugged, “I thought it would scare her away,” he whimpered, “I figured if the Holy Knights were bad then the Sins were good, right? But that just made her more angry and now the whole village hates me.”

She rested her cheek against her own arms, looking over at him and sparing a quick glance around the area before speaking. “Can I tell you a secret?” His head perked up, red eyes staring intently at her, “Kylo and I? We’re looking for the Sins.”

“You are?”

“Mhmm. Cause they are good, whatever the Holy Knights have said about them is wrong, they’re powerful, but they’re not bad.”

Rede’s eyes were wide and innocent, she would hug him if she knew him better, but placed a hand on his shoulder anyway, squeezing and offering a supportive smile. He sniffled again, hiding back behind his arms though shifted somewhat closer to her.

“I still screwed up though… I can’t go back there.”

She nudged him gently, “we all screw up. I got myself lost in the city around my home when I was little, accidentally stole some market produce because I didn’t know how anything worked, that sort of thing.” She giggled at the memory. “Almost gave my older sister a heart attack and she wouldn’t speak to me for, like, three weeks afterwards. It’s not exactly on the same level as what you did, but your intentions were good, and honestly you have to have been pretty brave to say something like that, which I think is better than me just being a dumb kid.”

He lifted his head, wiping his eyes, “you think so?”

“Definitely,” she nodded, “now, I  _ know  _ you don’t know the Sins, but do you have any idea of where we could find one or more of them? Rumours, gossip, anything like that?”

He blushed a little, chuckling sheepishly and rubbing the back of his head as he uncurled himself, legs crossing in front of him as his chin sat between his forefinger and his thumb. “I mean, there’s word of something hiding out in the Forest of White Dreams, but no one really goes in there and… you know, comes out alive. Even the Holy Knights avoid it.”

She hummed, “well if the Knights avoid it, it could be kind of promising, I’ll pass this info on, thanks.”

“No problem,” he smiled, mood apparently brightened by that simple conversation. 

They sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes after that, soaking each others’ presences as the sun beat down from above them. Luckily, she didn’t have to ask for directions back to the main square, Rede seemed to pick up on how lost she was the second the two of them finally stood up and turned back to the path of the farmland.

On the walk back, she was able to look at the intricacies of the buildings, carvings in the walls done by reckless children, ivy crawling up the stone in naturally intricate patterns, and some windows with flower pots on the outer sills, flowers sprouting from them alongside clearly failed attempts at growing small crops for food. How the Holy Knight had managed to do that was both impressive and scary, but, Rose supposed, that was the thing about magic, it had a light side and a dark side, and a somewhat grey area in the middle where she imagined the Sins lay.

As they got closer to the main part of the village, they could hear voices, unfamiliar as anybody outwardly vocal in the village and inciting short cries of alarm from others. They ran over at that, the village was finally out of the bar (some still with drunk blushes) and in the main square; standing in a rushed, unfinished semicircle around the sword and staring at a pair of soldiers holding some sort of meeting - or at least one that had just finished. She spotted Kylo at the back of the crowd, arms folded as he leaned against his shoulder on a nearby building and stared at the men who seemed far too smug with whatever they had done. She led Rede over and she tapped on his arm to get his attention, he nodded in greeting before nodding again in the direction of the soldiers.

“Imports from the city have been put on hold while the village is on the bad side of that Holy Knight,” he whispered, leaning down to make sure both she and Rede could hear him.

“That’s bullshit!” 

“Rede!”

There was a collective yell as the boy ran between the crowd, pushing past people to make it to the middle where the soldiers and the sword were. The two armed men stared at him for a single silent moment before the pair of them burst into fits of mocking laughter, the villagers around didn’t say anything, some still looked angry while others disappointed (at Rede or the soldiers she wasn’t quite sure) and Rose found herself pushing through the crowd to stand behind him. He looked up at her for a moment, eyes glistening, before he inhaled and grabbed the hilt of the sword, everyone knew he wouldn’t be able to pull it out, including Rede, but that didn’t stop him from trying - his efforts only seemed to make the soldiers lose themselves in their laughter more, one even hunching over while the other wiped a nonexistent tear from his eye.

The villagers parted like the clouds in the sky when Kylo wanted to get through, allowing him into the inner circle. He glared at the soldiers - not that they noticed - and Rose grabbed Rede’s shoulder to get him to stop pulling at the sword to turn and look at Kylo. He shifted his head and the two of them moved in that direction, allowing him to walk over to the stuck weapon while the soldiers were still laughing their asses off at Rede heartfelt attempt. Somewhat one for the dramatics, Kylo gripped the hilt with one hand, sparks of electricity bouncing around his fingers as he pulled it from the ground and held it up, pointing at the clouds as a crackle of said electricity bound to the sword burst along the ground and through the sky. The soldiers stopped their laughing then, jaws dropping at the sight of him while Rose simply grinned with a short, excited clap.

“We’ll be keeping ahold of this,” he said to the soldiers, throwing a smug, cat-like smile at them as he rested the blade against his shoulder. “You can tell the Holy Knight this village is under Kylo Ren’s protection, so I’d suggest getting those imports ready after all the grief you’ve put these people through.”

Everyone around them looked at him in utter shock, their mouths wide ovals and eyes no different, Rede’s eyes were practically shimmering with admiration. The soldiers were less shocked and more scared, scuttling back like mice caught in a trap, she couldn’t help but smirk and they scrambled out of the village, running so fast the dirt from the road kicked up behind them.

Water spouted from the main cracks then, raining down on everyone as the village lit up with cheers, one look at the farms said that whatever magic was locking their plant growth way was completely gone, a full harvest already grown in place of once dying crops. Children ran around them, screaming in pure joy as the fresh water sprinkled over them and bounced rainbows all over the village several were determined to follow; the villagers surrounded them to share their thanks and Rose had to grab both Kylo and Rede to stop them all from tumbling over or losing one another in the sudden crowd - Kylo had to awkwardly keep his arm in the air as to not accidentally stab someone with the Holy Knight’s (well, technically theirs now) sword.

They stood there for at least an hour, shaking hands and sheepishly taking the thanks from the half-sobbing villagers, Rose could feel Rede clinging to the end of her shirt-dress even as the crowds finished their thanks and ran off to enjoy the full harvest and 

“So you’re… you’re the Dragon Sin!?” The boy exclaimed, “you’re actually him!?”

Kylo waved his hand dismissively, “yeah, I s’pose.”

“Can I come with you?” Rede asked suddenly, eyes squeezed closed and hands pressed together in front of him like he was praying they’d agree, “I don’t fit in here, and as much as I love the village, I need something exciting to happen!”

“Well, it’s not like we’ve got any parents to ask,” Kylo shrugged, offering a rare smile at Rede before looking to her, “what do you think?”

She had to guffaw, this was absurd, “he’s a  _ child _ , Kylo! We can’t just take him with us! We’re on a dangerous mission here!”

Rede puffed up his cheeks, eyebrows scrunched together, “I know you guys are doing something serious, I won’t get in the way! Plus I know a bunch of healing stuff from the village, I can be useful, promise!”

Kylo waved his hand at him, “see? He’s fine.”

“You can’t just- he’s gonna-  _ ugh _ ! You can’t gang up on me like this!”

The pair had the audacity to grin at her.

**xoxoxo**

A number of hours passed and the moon was hanging up in the sky surrounded by sprinklings of stars in sporadic constellations that sent a silver highlight over The Cat’s Cradle and the town. 

Rose leaned against the door of the bar, watching Kylo who sat at the edge of the hill scribbling on parchment with Bee peering over his shoulder. Rede was already asleep, the excitement of the day making him crash in Kylo’s room the second he was given the opportunity, the older man had said he didn’t mind though, apparently he was going to set himself up behind the bar with the extra blankets and pillows he had. What Kylo and Bee were doing, she had no idea, Kylo had gone outside during dinner and Bee seemed to pick up on something Rose couldn’t so followed after him, now there they were.

She would’ve asked, but she knew better than to interrupt them when they were doing something, not that he’d been writing long, it was more the whispering between the man and the cat that had her just watching them. She absently wondered if this was about the sword, Rede had been pretty excited to have a look at it given once Kylo picked it up it wasn’t that heavy, so that was currently in Kylo’s room too (she still thought bringing Rede along was a bad idea, but honestly he was a little too cute to say no to, and the fact that he actually got Kylo to properly  _ grin  _ over the small smiles and smirks he normally shared was a feat in of itself). 

Before too long Bee was stretching out against the grass and turning around to face her, tail whipping to hit the back of Kylo’s knees as he stood - earning an ear pull for his efforts. The cat sauntered over to her, offering an all-teeth smile and sitting down next to her to watch Kylo with her.

“What are you doing?” She asked finally, staring and Kylo took another couple steps away from the bar and rolled the parchment into a roll.

“Nothing,” he replied dismissively, stopping a good few paces away from the building and staring up at the sky with his back facing the forest to their left, parchment held in one hand and the other twitching at his side.

She squinted at him, looking down at Bee who offered no help, instead turning to look in the same direction Kylo was; she sighed, rubbing her face exasperatedly before begrudgingly turning to look at the stars too.

At first she thought it was a star, it glimmered just like the rest of them but got bigger, or at least more noticeable, by the second. By the time she realised it was a  _ spear  _ and not a star flying in Kylo’s direction, he’d already thrown his arm out and disappeared into the woods, leaving a trail of destroyed trees in his wake. 

She and Bee ran over when it seemed like he stopped, he’d gone incredibly far, but the glint of his sword hilt allowed her to spot him pulling himself from where he got lodged in a tree. His hand was wrapped around the spear still, red liquid disappearing into the sleeve of his jacket as he slid the rolled up parchment onto the spear before twisting it in his grip and taking a small hopping start to then launch the thing back in the direction it came, a small shockwave shaking the branches around him. In a flash the spear was gone and it was silent once more.

“Oh, wow.” 

He brushed his hands together, flecks of blood splashing onto the grass as he wandered back over and hid them back in his pockets.

“That should rile her up a bit.”

Rose wasn’t sure if that was daunting or unbelievably exciting.

* * *

Far away in an old tower, a woman sat at the head of a table in an ornate chair decorated with red velvet and golden roses; she wore an apathetic expression, lips turned downwards and cheek rested against a fist while her other hand absentmindedly signed some more troops onto a new area to hunt for  _ those people _ . She was pale, had brown hair left to fluff out around her ears, and brown eyes watching the sky outside her window. Her armour was white with light blue accents, making her figure look bigger than normal, and, should she have her helmet on, would naturally make her appear more masculine to one not paying attention; she had no issue with her femininity, but opponents usually felt less confident when they thought they were sizing up a male Holy Knight, she was no fool to the presumptions.

Her closest friend, an apprentice preparing to go on a hunt for those traitors himself, sat beside her, watching her work and fidgeting as if he wanted to ask her a question. He had dark skin and precisely cut hair, uncertain eyes darting between her unfocused scribbling and her attention outside - he probably wanted to ask what she was waiting for, because she  _ was  _ waiting for something - and his hands seemed to fidget with anything they could find, their current focus being the string of the cape he wore, white unlike his orange armour that clung closer to his frame than hers did.

There were echoes outside, some of the footsoldiers walking, probably half drunk knowing the ruckus that happened earlier when her apprentice arrived for his mission assignment; she couldn’t find it in herself to feel that bad for them, considering what was to happen, if they survived good for them, but the probable building collapse wouldn’t be too merciful to those not inside or behind something.

She sensed it before she could see it, the countered magic put behind it, only one person could pull that off. The flash in the sky appeared next and her apprentice started rambling as the foot-soldiers yelled and ran; she simply sighed, sitting up and putting her pen down to watch the sparkling speck grow brighter and more focused until she could truly see the spear flying back in her direction. The chaos around the base picked up if the increase in yelling was anything to go by, but the spear was faster than the men, crashing through the window and sending a shockwave of pure force that kicked up the dust around the room and sent the whole building to collapse.

She simply sighed, tucking her hair behind her ear and side eyeing where the weapon was lodged in her chair, right by her head - he still had good aim, then. She could hear her apprentice coughing from beside her, stood behind where his chair had been crushed by falling debris of the tower. She ignored his calls of concern to pluck the sheet of parchment from the spear, he wrote a note, of course he did; she rolled it out in front of her and his cursive yet messy handwriting made her eyes narrow, she stood from her seat, parchment crumpled in her right hand as her expression twisted downwards. She grabbed the spear in her other hand, expelling a tight breath before tearing it from her chair and walking to where the door now was in front of her table; she stared at the sky, eyes hard and fists clenched around her held items, the message on the parchment echoing through her ears.

‘ _ Did you miss me? x’  _ and that damned cat even had the nerve to scratch in a smiley face in the bottom corner. A  _ smiley face _ . Did they have no tact, no understanding of the situation they were in? They were idiots, always had been, and she was ready to bring them to justice for everything they had ever done.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Into the Forest of White Dreams

“So, you’re positive this isn’t just some… I dunno town ghost story?”

Kylo stared at the girl across the table from him, mug in hand and watching as she talked around her breakfast (which seemed rather undignified for a  _ princess _ ) and looked between where he sat, and where Bee and R2 were across the room, the pair looking at the posters of his former team he had hung up on a noticeboard; and by the goddesses did he look like such a teenager in his. The Cat’s Cradle was on the move, Bee’s Mom stepping between trees and other creatures to get to their new destination - The Forest of White Dreams. Granted, it might have been a little far fetched to take a town myth and assume he might find someone, but at this point he was just a bit desperate to get another powerful fighter on their side given him taking on another non-fighter in R2 and while he could manage himself in a fight, he couldn’t guarantee both Rose’s and R2’s safety, even with Bee’s help - which he couldn’t fully utilise  _ without  _ the one specific person able to keep him stable; provoking the woman may not have been his smartest decision either, but she deserved it.

He shrugged in response to Rose’s question, “I’m not positive.” He could see her squint at him, teeth grinding against her fork. “But we might as well take the chance, if we don’t find anyone, fine, you’ve got me so we’re not going to die in there. And if we find someone, incredible, best case scenario and we can haul ass out of there and go looking for the others.”

Rose hummed, stabbing her fork back into her eggs - he could practically see her visualising his head - and leaning her chin against her hand, “I guess,” she sighed, looking back over at R2 and Bee, “what are we doing with them?”

“I  _ would _ leave R2 here, but he’d probably get antsy by himself and I need to bring Bee with us so that he can sniff out any familiar persons should they be in there,” he downed the bitter coffee that remained in his mug, reminding himself to find a couple of very specific men as soon as possible before he killed himself with his own cooking. “I could leave you here with him but firstly, I get the feeling you know about as much about babysitting as you do waitressing, and secondly, you’d probably try and follow us anyway.”

As he suspected, she didn’t look particularly pleased at what he’d said, either it was the ‘all of them were going’ portion or the bit about her not knowing how to babysit, either way, her eyebrows furrowed and she stabbed her fork into her eggs again, a little harder this time. 

“And what exactly are we doing with that sword you insisted we keep?”

He shrugged again, planting his foot on the leg of the table and swinging back on his chair precariously, “I figured R2 could use it, it is kind of his size.”

She scoffed, “do you have no regard for anyone’s safety? He could get hurt!”

The boy in question looked over at her exclamation, eyes innocent and wide as he silently questioned what the two of them were arguing about.

“I dispelled the magic in it, Rose,” he replied seriously, looking her dead in the eye, “I wouldn’t suggest he try and learn if I thought he was going to get himself killed. Have a little more faith in me, Princess.”

Her eyes flicked between his, he watched her analyse his words in her head, processing every little thing he just said for some kind of fault or lie, to see if he really was idiotic enough to pit a child against an electric blade and the forces that came with possessing a sword like that. Kylo had done some dumb things as a kid, had done some equally stupid shit in his late teens, and yes, he may have killed a number of people in his time, but he was allowed to say none of them were children under the age of seventeen.

Finally, she sighed, “okay, I’m sorry.”

He nodded, leaning back in his chair again and throwing his arm over the back to turn and face R2, “hey, kid, wanna go get,” he made a gesture with his hands, roughly how big the blade was. 

R2 beamed in response, “on it Sir Ren!” He scrambled away from Bee and the wanted poster board to disappear upstairs. 

He was coming down the stairs, sword in a makeshift leather sheath swung diagonally across his torso, when the building tilted (right on schedule but still not exactly prepped for), Kylo managed to catch Rose’s plate and what was left of her breakfast before it could slide off the table and looked back at R2 who had managed to roll into the door, and Bee who had stuck his claws into the floor (which, excuse him that was not easily fixable) to keep himself situated. The loud meow that followed the tilt made him stand, letting Rose scarf down what remained of her food before she followed after him, Bee helping R2 back to his feet and apologising for his mom’s lack of warning. 

He stepped outside onto the orange fur of Bee’s Mom, he felt the vibrations of her purrs as he moved around the back of the bar to a small cluster of barrels tied  _ very tightly _ under the kitchen window with thick rope; he popped open the lid of one and rolled the sleeve of his jacket up to reach into the water sat inside and pull out two fish. 

He could see stars practically light up in Bee’s eyes at the sight of the wriggling animals, making a similar noise to his mother deep in his throat and crouching like he was ready to pounce at a moment’s notice. He rolled his shoulder before throwing, tossing the fish high into the air and watching Bee launch himself up, catching it between his fangs and landing to roll on his back and gnaw at it. 

He paused the second he realised what he was doing, lying stone still on his back as his eyes darted to the trio staring at him. Kylo couldn’t hold in his snort, and eventually Rose was starting to cover her face to stifle her own giggles while R2 was laughing rather openly; Bee slurped down the rest of his fish and rolled back onto his paws, frown taking up most of face to the point Kylo couldn’t help laughing again, just for a split second.

“I can’t believe you got me with that  _ again _ .”

Kylo tutted, sighing dramatically and sauntering past to scratch behind Bee’s Mom’s ear and give her the second fish, “just like your partner, ay Bee.”

“I hate you,” the cat declared, leaping down from his mom’s back as she settled amongst the trees outside the entrance to the Forest of White Dream

He rolled his eyes, jumping down after. “No you don’t,” he scoffed, catching both R2 and Rose as they slid down the side of their trasport.

The Forest of White Dreams certainly looked like it lived up to it’s name, from the entrance to as far back as Kylo could have seen when he was on Bee’s Mom, there was a thick white fog surrounding the trees that made up most of the landscape. It looked like the the clouds had simply fallen from the sky to rest around the area, creating a haze on the inside that stopped any of them from being able to see three feet in front of them. One step inside and he was already mildly thrown off with how vague everything looked, as if a simple mirage. Rocks, trees, pathways, all clouded by the same white mist.

The fog wrapped around them the further they got in, Kylo felt it rolling along his skin, weaving through his hair, and passing through his very being; it felt invasive, but soft, like a blanket unwilling to untangle from around him in the morning. He looked around, eyes locking with Rose’s as she tried to keep close to his side, and spotting R2 and Bee in his peripherals with the help of their unique hair colours; he worried that if he lost track of any of them in there, they’d be lost and possibly never make it out.

The forest was quiet, eerily so, and if Kylo was anybody else he probably would have been unnerved by it, Rose certainly seemed to be: she was wrapping her arms around her stomach, shoulders hunched up to her ears, and kept looking behind them every time they turned down a new path. R2 seemed a little too intrigued to really dwell on whatever thoughts of fear he may have had, plus, the hand gripping a tuft of Bee’s fur was probably helping. The silence was truly deafening, each footfall, branch snap, leaf russle sounded like a contained explosion against the oppressive quietness keeping them from talking, each breath or noise not their own had one or more of them spinning around to see what it was- yet there was nothing, each and every time. Kylo wasn’t one to brand himself frightened of anything, but the forest had some kind of hold on them; the paths kept looking the same and he could’ve sworn they’d passed that moss-covered stone at least six times.

At some point, R2 got tired of circling a new rock four or five times and started complaining that they were lost - which, Kylo and Rose both  _ knew _ they just couldn’t figure out how to get un-lost and back on track - and ended up just riding on Bee’s back before his legs could give up on him. 

“Okay, that’s it, we’re stopping for a second,” he called finally, stopping exactly where he was and pivoting to see a clearing. He waved Rose over there to find a seat or something, would have had Bee and R2 follow if he didn’t need to little cat (and if they didn’t suddenly come as a package deal - Bee was really greedy with companions, wasn’t he). “Do you smell anyone yet?”

Bee sniffed at the air experimentally, taking a couple small inhales before two rather large ones that left him slightly out of breath afterwards, “I’m getting  _ something _ , but not enough to pinpoint if it’s one of us or just some other lost soul.”

He folded his arms, mouth twisting into a frown. If Bee couldn’t sense anyone yet, they either had too keep braving the loops of the forest or call Bee’s Mom to get them out now. He grumbled, “we could always go looking for that lost soul anyway?”

Bee gave a non-commital noise, “I dunno if I’m _that _kind of hungry yet.”

“Course you’re not…”

“Uh, Kylo?” Rose called. Except, it wasn’t just one, it was a couple dozen or so, all clustered together in the little clearing the princess had stepped into 

“Woah!” R2 exclaimed, eyes wide and looking at the sudden crowd, “that’s a lot of Princess Roses.”

Bee nodded, “no kidding, how are we supposed to find the real one?”

Kylo spotted her immediately, she was lost amongst the middle, but the sheer  _ offence  _ she appeared to have taken at Bee’s comment was near impossible to miss, at least, to him. 

“Try asking them to do something,” Bee offered, titling his head to look at the boy on his back.

R2 sat there for a moment, eyes scanning the group and still looking rather uncertain when he gave his command, “uh… d-dance?”

Without much more direction the group began doing a multitude of things, twirling, swinging their hips, jumping, whatever really constituted as dancing and honestly just making it harder for the two who hadn’t seen their Rose from the get go more confused. Speaking of, their Rose  _ had  _ actually listened to the young boy’s command (something he wasn’t quite sure she wouldn’t have if he had asked), but was accomplishing the bare minimum with the most unenthusiastic circling of her arms.

“Okay the crowd’s too big to find her like that,” Bee hummed, probably would have put a paw to his mouth if R2 wasn’t sat on him. “Kylo,” he wacked Kylo’s ankle instead, “say something. Women never like when you talk.”

He sighed, rolling his eyes but addressing everyone anyway, “Princess.”

The crowd of them practically cooed at him, if the illusionists thought they were being convincing, they were a pretty stupid species. His eyes focused on the real Rose in the middle, side-eyeing those around her and glaring at the split ends in her hair when she got bored of that first thing.

“You’re incredibly useless.”

There was a chorus of disappointed  _ awws _ , majority of the crowd deflating in their best attempts to mimic what they assumed a princess would do. He couldn’t hide his smirk at he real Rose’s expression though, sucking on her teeth with a single raised eyebrow practically daring him to say something like that again. Okay, he’d had his moment of fun. Making sure she was watching, he grabbed his broken sword and launched in a wide arch at the copies, landing gracefully next to her and sheathing his blade as the illusions burst into large clusters of sparkling glitter, a few small creatures scuttling away into the bushes before he could catch them again.

Rose took a moment to stand on her toes and smack him upside the head, he gave her the satisfaction of at least flinching. “Asshole, you knew which one was me from the get-go.”

He laughed, “you act less and less like a princess each day, I think I’m rubbing off on you.” He swerved another swing for his head with a grin.

Rose huffed, beginning to march through the clearing and the path north of it before Kylo slid in front and took over leading, leaving her with R2 and Bee. He could feel Rose’s intense glare on the back of his head at every step, and his ears were sharp enough to hear her muttering about how  _ I am absolutely not useless _ ,  _ how dare he insult my attitude _ and  _ which one of us has learned to cook eggs, huh? Which one? I’d like to see him try and cook something not a hazard to our healths  _ and the like; while immensely amusing, it did remind him of his mother. 

Bee was sniffing at the air every other step they took, senses reaching out into the void in search of something, familiar or otherwise. Kylo had seen him do this before, back when he lost his original Sin the first time they met when he was nothing but a child; even as an adult he found the talent rather impressive, he had better searching skills than most blood hounds, he’d even found his mom after all the chaos in the city went down. Really, if anything was in here, Kylo could get information about the others and finding Bee’s partner would be easy, really though, he shouldn’t expect anything less from a-

“She’s this way!”

At the cat’s shout, Kylo stumbled out of the way and watched his orange fur disappear into the mist down the path, turning to Rose and seeing her holding R2 under his arms, both with equal looks of shock (R2 more-so considering he was just half-rocketed off the back of a speeding mammal into the arms of a princess). After a second of silent, purely eye contact, debate, Rose set R2 down and the three of them took off after Bee, Kylo leading the way and following the faint imprints of his companion’s paws in the dirt. 

As they sprinted up what remained of the hill and the twisting paths Bee had taken, Kylo had one train of thought: Bee knew who he’d sniffed out, which meant it was someone from the team which boded well for their group as a whole if who it was was still alive and either lost or living out there by themselves (and whatever illusionist creatures they ran into earlier). Bee also said that who he’d sniffed out was a  _ she  _ which really only left two people, he didn’t really have any idea where either of the team’s girls - well ‘girl’ was a loose term for one of them but she preferred it overall when they met - were; one of them wasn’t exactly hard to spot  _ however _ the other never really left their escort’s (technically a strange lover and teacher kind of relationship they had) side even in the face of what they encountered all that time ago. Bee hadn’t sniffed out both of them, which left-

They turned into another clearing, the mist less prominent in this one and there she was surrounded by the fog like a ghost breaking through to the barrier to the world of the living. A spectacle she was, a giant in the very literal sense of the word curled into the dirt and sleeping the world away, Bee had his nose in her platinum hair, still short and curling around her ears as it always had, he was nuzzling and mewing at her like he had done when he saw Kylo after the chaos. Her gear made her appear heavenly, a fallen angel lost to the spite and the lies about her and her people: the white romper still somehow managed to stay perfect, the short cape going from her hips to her knees laying over her legs like a blanket and hiding her brand beneath it, her boots were black, the same as the fingerless gloves adorning her hands, and reinforced by metal, both pieces a stark contrast to her overall look but still suiting the personality Kylo had come to appreciate so much in the years he’d known her.

“Woah,” Rose breathed, every inch of her being filled with awe.

Kylo couldn’t help his small smile as he shed his jacket, sleeveless jumpsuit doing nothing to hide the brand on his arm. “Hold this, please,” he asked, handing Rose the discarded item and flexing his fingers as he made his way over to Bee and the giant, “you could bite her,” he said, side-eyeing the cat.

The mammal in question scoffed, “the only person I’ve bitten twice that’s lived is-“

“ _ I know _ ,” he cut him off, “I was kidding, I don’t need you to go on a lecture about how great your best friend is.”

The pair of them stared at her, not really sure what to do that wouldn’t make her freak out; she was a weird sleeper, you could make the loudest noise and she wouldn’t shift but a cockroach touched her leg  _ one  _ time and she just about screamed half the Kingdom down. Kylo sighed out of his nose, leaning forward and flicking her cheek with a shout.

“Phasma!”

As expected, she shifted immediately, sitting stark upright as if shocked by lighting and looking around before reorinting herself and hearing his and Bee’s calls. She looked down, blue eyes widening just a tad before she rolled onto her knees - leg cape falling to reveal the green snake tattoo on her thigh - and they were scooped from the ground and held in her large hands up to her face in the best sort of hug she could provide.

“Captain! Bee! You’re alive!”

Bee nuzzled into her hands while Kylo stretched to get his arm free and pat her wrist, “yes, we’re alive, and we came looking for you.”

“I’ve been in this forest for years what have you been doing?”

He chuckled, rubbing the back of his head, “travelling on the opposite side of the Kingdom coincidentally.” He managed to land in a roll when she dropped him, simply allowing Bee onto her shoulder as she stood to her full height (about thirty feet if she hadn’t grown).

Rose coughed from where she was then, eyes still wide and mouth slightly agape as she looked up at Phasma - and a grinning Bee - and offered a meek wave, R2 hidden behind her legs.

“Oh right.” Kylo made his way over, ushering R2 out from his hiding spot and planting a hand on Rose’s shoulder. “This is the person who started this whole ‘hunting for the team’ thing, and this little guy joined us yesterday. Phasma, meet Rose, Princess of the Kingdom, and Rede, tag-along we like a lot. Rose and Rede, meet Phasma the Snake Sin of Envy.” He saw their eyes flash to the mark on her leg before meeting her eyes again and letting out varying sounds of awe. 

Phasma crouched down to get a good look at the pair, balancing on her toes with her arms wrapped around her knees, her eyes flicked between both Rose and R2

He heard something, too far away for the others but he felt it, sensed it too - as did Bee if the sudden arch of his back was anything to go by. He didn’t turn, just moved, shifted slightly into a better position in front of his friends.

“R2, Rose, take a few paces back for me, would ya.” He made a shooing motion with his hands and watched them tilt their heads at him but listen anyway, looking behind them so they didn’t trip until they were close enough for Phasma to be able to grab. “Good, yeah, right there is good.”

“What are you doing?” Rose asked, squinting at him. One would think after the few weeks of travelling together she’d trust him a little more by now, but he almost couldn’t put it against her when the Knights set to protect her and her family attacked it instead.

He smiled, hand reaching back and grabbing the hilt of his sword. “Well, I can’t exactly let my friends get hurt by our lovely new sword’s previous owner, can I?”

In a flash she was there, in the air slicing down at him but he’d anticipated it, his broken sword flipped upwards to catch her blade in a jagged gap. He felt her power pulse through his bones and pivoted on his left foot, twisting his blade and hers along with it to send the shockwave of power back at her with a swing, sending her caving through the trees. He knew it wouldn’t do much given how well her armour was made, but it gave him a couple minutes.

“Holy shit!” Rose exclaimed, stumbling backwards at the sheer force of his counterattack. “Who was that!?”

“Language, Princess, you’re around impressionable ears.” He managed to grin away her glare, rolling his shoulders and checking to make sure she still had a hold of his jacket. “Phasma!”

“On it!” The giant called, grabbing both Rose and R2 and beginning to rise to her full height once more. “Hope you’re not afraid of heights.” She took several steps back, disappearing into the mist with the only things communicating their location being vague silhouettes and Rose and R2’s calls for him.

He watched them go, chewing the inside of his cheek and tightening his grip on his sword and turning his head to catch  _ her  _ shadow rising from where he’d thrown her at the corner of his eye. He huffed almost exhaustedly, turning completely and shifting his weight to one leg, he saw her emerge from the mist, helmet now gone but armour mostly unscathed.

“How’s it going, Sweetheart?” He asked, throwing out a wink with a grin. “How long’s it been? Three years?”

“Four,” she growled back, teeth clenched - if looks could kill, she’d be dead if he countered such an expression.

“You’ve been keeping count?” He asked, voice a few octaves higher and a hand against his heart, he dramatically fans at his eyes, sniffling as if overwhelmed with emotion. “I’m flattered. The lack of my presence must have been really hard on you.”

He had to say, she was still incredibly attractive for someone with such a vendetta against him, though, her head  _ did  _ look a little small without her helmet given how much her armour took away from the figure he knew full well she had. She’d cut her hair from the last time they met too but he couldn’t say that was a bad change, he always though long hair was a little impractical given her job - he wondered if she cut it before or after she found out who he was and sent a bunch of people to kill him.

He blinked out of his thoughts when she disappeared from his sight for a split second - so she’d gotten faster, good to know. He followed what he could sense of her presence; the imposing, powerful aura she still had no idea how to reign in was a dead giveaway to someone like him and the other Sins. He waited, just a second longer than he normally would before leaping away and watching her sword collide with the ground he once stood upon.

He skidded along the dirt when he landed, kicking up dust with the heel of his boots as he chuckled, “c’mon, Rey, not even a hello?”

She bared her teeth at him, growling like a feral hound, “you don’t deserve a greeting.”

She charged at him, he dug in his heels and brought his sword forth to catch her again, holding back her attack.

“My,” he grunted, pushing back without countering her and dodging her slice for him. “We’re feeling rude today, aren’t we?” He leaned back as her blade poked at his nose.

“ _ Enough _ !” She hollered, barely giving him time to jump away from her strike, “why don’t you fight back?!”

_ Because it annoys you more this way _ \- not that he was going to say that out loud, she seemed rather riled up already. He stood his ground, pivoting only slightly to slice his blade through the air diagonally, sending an attack made of pure pressure, force, and the rocks around them at her; he watched her curl into her armour to try and withstand the blow. He fell into a roll when she threw her sword at him like a javelin, his thoughts jumping back to her spear as his body moved to grab the weapon now lodged in a tree; it burned with electric charge, a shook shooting up his arm and making his muscles tense as he grit his teeth; it fit in his grasp the same as all her swords used to.

He rolled it over his knuckles and swung some of her own lightning back at her that she managed to dispel easier than his previous attack with a swipe of her hand. He put his own broken sword away, ignoring the small white lines on the hand gripping her sword to pass it to his more dominant hand and swipe at her again. 

They circled each other, eyes locked and movements mirrored, Kylo could see lightning bouncing across Rey’s fingers and wondered if she really had gotten better at controlling her magic without a focus for it. She proved his thought by shooting her hand out, a line of electricity crackling towards him and drawing a yelp from his throat as he drew her sword up to catch it - it certainly dulled the intensity of it, but the burn under his skin was still highly apparent. During his block, she’d gotten closer, skidding across the gap they had between them to grapple with him and gain her weapon back.

Ever the one to avoid close combat, she still couldn’t overpower him, he hooked his ankle behind hers and pulled her leg towards him while pushing her torso backwards. They tumbled over each other and the sword clattered to the ground until he finally had her pinned under him; he smirked.

“Falling for me again?”

“In your dreams.” 

She took the sword from above her head faster than he expected, but slower than something he couldn’t avoid, she shifted it in her hand and brought it down to his shoulder - the shoulder of the arm with his branding on it. He let her do it, sure, but it still  _ tore through his shoulder _ which meant it hurt just the same, he could feel his tongue bleed at how hard he was biting it to make sure the only sound that escaped him was a grunt. With his shoulder now somewhat useless, he couldn’t hold his weight on it, especially after she disappeared from under him, he slumped into the dirt and tried to keep his breathing under control.

“You will fail on this pathetic quest of yours,” she growled, the metal plates of her armour scraping against each other as she raised her blade above them both. “After I kill you, I’ll end the giant’s life and the cat’s life, then take the boy and Princess Rose back to the Capitol. Your  _ Greed _ , well, he’ll rot in Baste Prison for the rest of his immortal life and the rest of you in hiding? We’ll find them and kill them too, wherever they may be.”

There was something of a battle cry from his left, a very powerful sounding hit and a few subsequent crashes indicating that Rey probably wasn’t above him anymore.

He groaned, rolling his eyes and propping his chin on his hands. “Thought I made it clear I wanted you out of the way, Phasma,” he said, tilting his head slightly to peer at the giant by his side.

“She was getting on my nerves,” she huffed, folding her arms and turning away from him like he’d offended her. “I wanted at least  _ one  _ punch in before you got up.”

“You fooled me.”

He rolled backwards into a handstand before returning to his feet and looking at the Holy Knight. “Thanks for the information, Sweetheart.” He winked and offered a two fingered salute, smiling as she stumbled back and Bee’s Mom stepped over him, Phasma at her side. “Until next time.”

It took one leap and he was on her back, waving to Rey again and watching her stunned face slowly disappear into the mist as they finally made their way back out again. When he didn’t expect her to come after them again, he looked back at his shoulder and at the wound she’d given him; he was slightly careless for letting her cut so deep, and the blood felt wholly uncomfortable seeping under the torso of his jumpsuit, but hey, at least they knew where to go now.

He squeezed his eyes shut, falling to one knee, when a wave of dizziness barrelled into him - okay, so, a little  _ too  _ much blood loss.

“Kylo!”

“Sir Ren!”

“Captain!”

The four simultaneous voices rang in his ears as he breathed away his dizziness, Rose tried to give him his jacket but he waved her away, not wanting to get blood on the garment, and she draped it over Bee instead. He tried to smile as he usually did but he figured it came out as more of a grimace if their worried gazes said anything; R2 said something though his ears were ringing now so he missed it, allowing Rose to hook his arm over her shoulder and haul him back inside The Cat’s Cradle under the watchful eyes of Phasma, and Bee and R2 keeping up the rear.

So, safe to say Rey was still a  _ little  _ mad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First Reylo encounter in the fic of many more to come plus a new team member and lots of Kylo ramblings
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!

**Author's Note:**

> There are some characters not listed that make an appearance, but they’re brief, which is why they aren’t tagged as characters


End file.
